Automatic signal for railroads.



F. W. HAWKINS. AUTOMATIC SIGNAL FOR RAILRoAns.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I. ISU.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

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FRANK W. HAW'KINS, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOLR 0F ONE-HALF TO GEORGE W. FECHTER, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC SIGNAL Fon RAILROADS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 13m31.191s.

Application fled'Mar'oh 1, 1917. Serial No. 151,826.

To all whom z may concern.'

Be it known that I, .FRANK W. HAWKINS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at are now provided with what is termed the block system,. in which theroad .isdivided into blocks or sections 'of track `provided with electrical devices, usually operated automatically, vand including se'maphores or other visual signals, [whereby the engineer of a moving train is advised of the conditions prevailing n each successive block or e tion `before enterin the same as vto s c g the-block system; Y

Whether or not1it is clear and safe; jbutl the successful operation of thissysterndepends upon the watchfulness of the engineer,-for it is his duty to make a mental noteof each block signal he approaches so as to. be 'governed in the operation of 4histrain thereby. Therefore, even with such an admirable system of train-control trains have been -run past danger signals and into accidents through the carelessness of the engineer in failing to observe the danger-signal.

Appreciating the imperfection of the ordinary block system,especially in theparticular above noted, it is the purpose of my'i'nvention tov supplement the usual visual sig-` nals-by an audible signal-or whistle in the cab of the locomotive andadapted fory operation automatically Vin conjunction with .the semaphores, whereby when thelatter is in danger position a device alongside the track will be moved into position to operate certain mechanism on the locomotive to cause the whistle to be blown and thus attract the attention of the engineer to the prevailing conditions in a positive and sure manner.

A further object of my invention is tol provide operating mechanism for this general purpose of such construction and arrangement that shouldfany of the partsof thesystem get out of order or become broken the .whistle will be automatically operated t0 give an alarm;

These and other objects hereinafter ex plainedv are attained by the particularfconstruction of mechanical devices carried by.

the locomotive and cooperating with certain track devices; all as hereinafter particularly described and specifically Vset-forth in lthe appendedclaini f In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a side View illustrating the general application' of my invention.`

Fig. 2 is a front view showing the arrangement of the valve-operating mecha nism on the-front-part of the-locomotive.

Fig. 3 is. an enlargedsectional'yiew oflthevalve controlling the operation of -the.-whis tle, and including the.mechanism.

Fig. 4L is a detail-'sectional View of the valve takenv at right' angles to the sectionFig'. 3, to show the construction of the lower endl of the stem .of theval've.

Fig. 5 is a detail'sectional View of the. trip device located alongside thetra'ck and operated in conjunction with the semaphores of Figs. '6, 7 and 8. are detailviews.,illustrat- .ing a modification, hereinafter referred-to.

As will be understood,` my invention is adapted for application to a railroad -in which the locomotive or train hasthe usual an important part thereof a reciprocating Aso valve 9, located on the'locomotive, A,prefer ably at the front end thereof, and interposed between an air-pipe l0 from theusual compressed-air reservoir (not shown) of the air-brake system and. an air-pipe 11:- extemi` ing from saidl valve into the cab of the locomotive where it is connected to an ordi-Y nary type of whistle, vl2, adaptedV toffbe sounded when the valve is opened". vThis valve is operatedin the present instance by a double crank-shaft 13 connected to the stem '23 thereof and in turn operated by a second double crank-shaft 14 having its depending member liiterminating, in avshoe 15, traveling with Ythe locomotive at the outer side of either rail, 0.,. and adapted to be struck by a tappet 16 operatingreci-procally in a cylindrical casing 17 in fixed position alongside the track. v

hereinbefore mentioned, are mounted on suitable parts of horizontal beams at the front of the locomotive, and are journaled in bearings 18, locating the air control valve 9 so that it may be operated from either side of said locomotive. It will be understood that the crank ends of the respective shafts of each set are so proportioned that the throw of the depending member or operating-arm 14a bythe tappet 16 will impartthe required extent of reciprocation to the valve; the swinging movement of the crank-arms 13:t producing a perpendicular movement of the reciprocating piston of the valve by means vof the lparticular connection hereinafter described.

'Ihe casing of the air-control valve 9, in which the piston or reciprocating-valve 20 operates, is provided near its upper'end with an inlet-valve 21, towhich the airJpipe 1() from the compressed-air reservoir is connected, and in its top with an outlet-port 22 to which the air-pipe 11 leading to the whistle is connectedg'the piston in operation uncovering the inlet'21 when lowered (see dottedl lines Fig. 4) to establish 'communication between the inlet and outlet ports, and covering said ports when raised against the top of the casing. Thestem 23 of the valve depends through the bottom of the .casing for connection with the crank-arms 13, 13a, by pin 25, and a space is left between the piston andl bottom of the casing to receive. a` light spring 26, which assists merely in rais-v ing said piston. In order to hold the piston to its lowermost position, and maintain the valve open, I provide a spring-actuated catch or plunger 27, mounted in a tubular extension 9. at one side of the valve-casing, and adapted to engagegin a notch or recess 20L1 in said piston. rIhis Aplunger or catch is projected into the recess by a spring 28, and the stem of said plunger projects through andbeyond the tubular extension 9a, terminating in an eye 27 a to whichY a cord 29 is connected and led therefrom through suitable guide-eyes on the locomotive to the cab within easy reacliof the engineer. By this arrangement when the air-control valve is opened by the operation of the trip devices hereinbefore described the warning whistle will continue to blow until the valve is'released; therefore should theengineer be incapacitated from any cause, preventing him from heeding the Warning signal, any other member of the train crew noting the continued blowing of the warning would be prompted ,to investigate; thus providing a safe-guard which would be effective in an emergency of this character, whereas the or dinarv semaphore warning would be likely to fail. Inv other. words the whistle warning is given inv a positive andsure manner and will continue until heeded and checked.

Lesa/ies As the crank-member 13ZL of the operating crank-shaft 13 has a lateral swinging movement, impartedV by the second operating crank-shaft 14 which is struck by the tappet, the connecting-pin 25 engages in a segmental slot 24 in the lower end of the valve-stem 23, and to provide for this'slot said lower vend of the valve-stem is enlarged or widened, as shown. The normal location of the pin 25, with respect to the slot, when the valve is closed, is at the center of, said slot, and when the arm or arms lswing to either side when eithershoe l15V is struck the pin rides upon thelower wall of the slotr24 and draws the stem downward, opening the Valve, as will be clearly understood byk referenceto Fig. 4 of tlie'drawings. Of' course when eitherfset of crank-*arms are operated the other'- set is also movedv or actuated,

though unnecessarily, by reason of the pin 25 connecting both crank-arms 132182 but l as hereinafter set -forthI provide an arrangement by which one set may remain stationary while the otheris operated.

This modification is' accomplished by the construction illustrated in Figs. 6, 7 land 8, f

wherein the valve-stem is forked and provided with two slottedl members23a, 23a,

each having a segmental slot 3 0 and an upwardly projecting communicating slot 31 at the center of said segmental slot. In this arrangement' the crank-arms 13a are connect'ed independently to individual members 23a each by a pin 32, whereby when either arm is swung laterally its connecting-pin 32 will work to draw upon the valve, while the other or companion -crank-armla may Y remain stationary as its pin 32 will enter the recess or slot 31 in the valve-stem meinber to which it is connected. 'By this arrangement I provide also for automatically opening the valve' in case the shoe-15 should l become broken off, for each crank-arm 18a may be influenced by aspring 35 serving to throw said arm, and consequently opentheA valve, when the yoperating crank-shafts are relieved of the weight ofthe shoe. This spring, one for each crank-arm 13a may be attached to an eye 36 on a part of the locoi motive and to the outer end of the crankarm and of such strength as to'iequire the weight of vthe shoe to maintain the valve closed or said crank-arm in vertical position. v

The tappet for operating eithery set of crank-shafts or valve-operating mechanism is located at one side of the track, preferably the outer side in case of a double-track, and is operated in one direction by a solenoid 17, and in the othervdirection by a spring 19, the stem or core 16a from the tappct depending into the coil, whereby in the present instance the tappet-member is drawn upon or lowered when the solenoid is energized by the circuit, hereinafter referredto,

and projected into the path of the shoe by the spring when said circuit is open. The

solenoid is electrically connected to the semaphore, B, sol as to operate in conjunction therewith, by means of wires@y and cl, and in the present instance the connection is-such that the circuit will be closed-lowering the tappet-when the semaphore is in safe position, and open-pro-jecting the tappet into the path of 'the shoe-when saidl semaphore isin danger position; whereby in case the circuit should become broken from any cause the tappet would bel automatically moved by the spring to* operative position with respect to the shoe. As will be noted this is another safeguardl to insure a warning to the engineer in case the arrangement for operating the tappet should get out of order.

For the proper and efficient operation of a. supplemental warning of this character it is of course necessary that the parts should work properly at all times, for when it is installed it is possible that the engineer will come to rely more on the audible signal than watchfulnesss of the semaphores of the block system, and in some instances the semaphores may be dispensed with. It is therefore a very important desideratum of an arrangement of this kind that a warning be given in case some part of the mechanism should become broken or disrupted. I have devised with this contingency in view, and it will be seen that the requirements have been fulfilled in very great measure.

The operation of the warning apparatus will be readily understood from the foregoing, in connection with the accompanying drawings; for when the semaphore of the block system is in the position indicating a clear track ahead or safe conditions in the next block the solenoid will be energized to lower the tappet out of the path of the shoe carried by the locomotive, so that the train will pass without operation of the valve 9 controlling the admission of air to the warning whistle l2. On the other hand, should the semaphore be in danger position the solenoid would be denergized permitting the spring to raise the tappet into the path of the shoe on the operating member carried by the locomotive so that said shoe will strike the tappet and open the aircontrol valve admitting air to the whistle, the spring-actuated plunger then engaging the piston of the valve to hold it to open position until released by the engineer. Therefore, even should the engineer fail to observe the semaphores as he proceeds with his train from one block to another the whistle would be blown to warn him in case of a danger condition.

It will be understood, of course, that the lower ends of the shoes are on a plane a little higher than that of the rails, so that they may clear cross-overs and switches, and therefore the tappet devices project, as shown in the drawings. Also, as shownin the drawings, a single tappet device is employed with each track, requiring a duplication of the operating' crank-shafts to insure operation of the air-control valve when the lomomotive is traveling either forward or back-ward. However, instead of duplicating thel operating crank-shafts the electricallyoperated tappet device couldl be duplicated; that is, one provided at each side of the track, in which instance but a single set of said operating crank-shafts would be required, and of course would then be operated by one or the other according to whether the locomotive was traveling forward or backward. Furthermore, this latter arrangement may permit of the use of a single operating crank-shaft, provided at one end with the operating crank-arm, as 13a, connected to the valve-stem, and at the other end with the depending operating-member, as 14n, carrying the shoe 15, and of course in this instance the form of slot in the valvestem shown in Fig. 4 would be sufficient, although that shown in Fig. 7 could be used without affecting the efficiency of operation, inasmuch as in moving the valve-piston the pin bears upon the bottom wall of the slot. It will be readily seen, therefore, that the arrangement is susceptible of changes without materially altering the operation, and I desire protection in whatever changes may be suggested in the practical operation of the apparatus, within the scope of my claims.

Though I have described the audible signaling mechanism as applied in connection with or supplemental to the usual semaphores, it will be understood, of course, that 105 it may be used alone in place of the same, the usual electric connections with the block system being such that it will operate the solenoid when a danger condition exists, instead of operating both the semaphore 110 and solenoid, as hereinbefore described.

Having described my invention, I claim: l. In an automatic signal for railroads, the combination of a whistle carried by the locomotive, a compressed air supply pipe 115 leading from a suitable supply to said whistle, a valve located on the locomotive to intercept said air supply and having a reciprocating piston, a stem depending from the valve-piston and provided at its lower 120 end with a bifurcated portion each member of which has a transverse segmental slot and a vertical slot extending upwardly from the center of said segmental slot, and independent crank shafts at opposite sides of 125 the valve each having an arm connected by a pin to the slots in the members of the bifurcated portion of the valve-stem, respectively, whereby either crank shaft may be moved for operation and the other remain 130 stationary; together With means for operating the crank-shafts.

2. In an automatic signal for railroads,'

the combination of a Whistle carried by the locomotive, a compressed air supply pipe leading from a suitable supply to said Whistle, a valve located on the locomotive to intercept said air supply and having a reciprocating piston, a stem depending from the valve-piston and provided at its lower end with a biurcated portion each member of Which has a segmental slot and a vertical slot extending upwardly from the center oi said segmental slot, independent crank- Copies of this patent may be obtained for shafts at opposite sides of the valve each having an arm connected by a pin to the members of the bifurcate'd portion of the valve-stem, respectively, said pins Working in the slots in said members, a spring connected to each crank-shaft for normally opening the valve, and a Weighted shoe forming an operating member for each 'f crank-shaft and acting on the latter to hold said valve normally closed.

v FRANK W. HAWKINS. In presence of- A. L. FINDLEY, JOHN A. CRAWFORD.

ive cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Y

W ashington, D. C." 

